AN INTERVIEW WITH…JOHNNY LLOYD

He debut solo EP, Dreamland, was released earlier this year after being produced by Hugo White of The Maccabees and Jamie T. With plans of further releases and a potential album, nothing seems a million miles for being doable.

Starting on Wednesday 28th September in Brighton and finishing at Newcastle’s Think Tank? on Friday 7th October, the former Tribes front-man spoke to Loose Cardigan of Ideas ahead of being back on the road and releasing new music.

HOW ARE YOU FEELING ABOUT HEADING BACK OUT ON TOUR?

“Good! We have been at it all year really. Since January it has felt really good, the band sound really good, everyone is excited and the shows are selling well. There is a real buzz about getting back to it.”

YOU SUPPORTED THE LIKES OF MYSTERY JETS AND THE MACCABEES EARLIER THIS YEAR – WHAT WAS THAT LIKE?

“It was amazing. We did some great shows with them in Europe and it seems more poignant now that they [The Maccabees] have split up. We realise now that we got to see them every night for a couple of months which was great.

SPEAKING OF THE MACCABEES, YOU WORKED WITH HUGO WHITE FOR PART OF THE DREAMLAND – HOW WAS THAT?

“It was great. He did three tracks and he is a great guy. You can see so much time went into those Maccabees albums so I think he is very consistent and knows what he likes. You can’t say that about all producers, but he got the best out of me and the band. It was very patient!”

WHAT WAS THE RESPONSE WHEN YOU BROUGHT OUT NEW MUSIC?

“It charted and I couldn’t believe it really. It will tell when we go out on tour I think, but it was good. It feels really early, but it was really exciting to put some new ideas out.”

ARE THE NEW TRACKS GOING TO DOMINATE THE SET?

“Yeah! We will be playing for about 50 minutes and it will be everything from Dreamland and a few demos from SoundCloud – we will whip them up properly. I am trying to make it so people know five or six songs.”

DO YOU HAVE ANY MEMORIES OF PLAYING NEWCASTLE OR THE NORTH EAST?

“I was born in Jesmond and lived there until I was four. We played Think Tank? with Black Honey which was great – a real wicked show. I played up there with Tribes on the NME Tour and it is always a great crowd up north.

“The further up north you go, the better the crowd is – that is just standard. It is the same with football as well. People are more into it the further north.”

DO YOU KNOW MUCH ABOUT THE SUPPORT?

“They are all local for this show I think, which is exciting. I picked them with my agent a few weeks ago from a load of entries so should be good!”

WHAT CAN WE EXPECT FROM JOHNNY LLOYD IN THE FUTURE?

“We have another EP for March next year, then tour and an album towards the end of the year. It is really exciting to be making new music and I am lucky to have found a home with Xtra Mile Records so I can put new music out there.

“I’ll hopefully do the album with Hugo as well, then we will be touring and writing. After summer and festivals we will get on with that and hopefully get it out by December.”

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Johnny Lloyd plays Newcastle Think Tank? on October 7th. Tickets are available from See Tickets.